11 Reasons The Vampire Diaries Is The Perfect Halloween Binge-Watch

October 23, 2015

Kayti

If you’ve never watched The Vampire Diaries, then we’ll forgive you for not understanding the magnificence that this romantic horror TV show achieves.

Like any show, TVD has its low points, but—when it’s on—you get a story that makes you feel things so hard, never forgetting who its characters are even amidst the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it plot pace. Also, it will occasionally scare you half to death in the best possible ways.

Whether you’ve watched it all before or not, here are 11 reasons why TVD is the perfect Halloween binge-watch.

First of all, there’s a lot of it

We know it can be nice to have a nice, quick binge-watch of a show like Sherlock and its grand total of nine episodes, but, sometimes, you want to spend hours and hours and hours falling into a fictional world. TVD just launched its seventh season and has more than 130 episodes for you to binge. Better get started!

The plot is faster than a vampire on super-serum

The best binge-watch shows tend to be the ones that have a structure that drives you forward onto the next episode. Guys, TVD has that formula down. This is the kind of show you stay up until 3am watching because YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. You have been warned.

It understands character-driven storytelling

Just because The Vampire Diaries churns through plot like no other show on television, doesn’t mean it eschews more complex, nuanced long form storytelling. After all, it has TV storyteller extraordinaire Julie Plec at its helm, which means these characters have well-planned character arcs. Sure, not all of them are executed perfectly, but, in general, watching TVD is extremely satisfying at a character level—even when the plot is a total mess.

Its protagonists are literal monsters

Moving onto the Halloween qualifier of this list, you better believe that TVD embraces its ghouls and goblins. OK, so there aren’t actually any ghouls or goblins, but there are LOTS of vampires, ghosts, witches, and more to look forward to. And they’re not just hanging out at the periphery, either. The main characters of TVD are monsters, and this show doesn’t shy away from that fact, letting its protagonists do unforgivable things.

Who sometimes chop each others’ fingers off

The scene this moment refers to is one of the best, most surprising twists in TVD history, but there are so many TVD moments that see its main characters making terrible (bloody) choices. Just ask Damon Salvatore.

One of its best episodes is a ghost story

Guys, I’m still not over season three’s “Ghost World.” There are actually multiple episodes on this show that deal heavily with ghost characters, but this is one of the absolute best. When the veil between the dead and the living is lifted, we get to check back in with some of our favorite deceased characters in the most wonderfully tragic ways.

It has some of the best, most twisted romances on TV

Pick your poison: Delena, Stelena, Klaroline, Steroline, Forwood, Bamon—the list goes on. There are so many great romances on this show and they are usually super compelling and super disturbing.

It loves to snap necks

This is an entire cut of characters snapping other characters’ necks. It is four-and-a-half minutes long. It does not include all of the neck snaps on TVD.

It doesn’t make you choose between gore and humour

TVD is a consistently hilarious show. It’s characters are super snarky and the show has a self-awareness that allows it to make hilarious comments while never undermining the validity of this show’s universe.

It can get really scary sometimes

Recently, it did an entire Blair Witch-esque opening that was genuinely terrifying. But there are also werewolves, ritual sacrifices, and vampire chase sequences, if that’s not enough to pique your interest.

But the true scariness comes in the existential questions it asks itself

The scariest thing on TVD? Losing your loved ones—or worse: yourself. Vampires aren’t treated as monsters on this show until they flip their humanity switch, losing their ability to empathize, love, or care about anyone or anything. That’s a pretty interesting message for a show that could have easily gone the traditional Monsters Are Evil Because They Crave Blood route. On TVD, you aren’t a monster until you give up on your ability to feel things—and it’s always a choice. When faced with the absolute terror of experiencing emotions, vampires cower.